I agree with you Peteg. We should considr ourselves nonsmokers; Nonsmokers will spend the rest of their lives without a single puff, so we should acomplish that. In order to become a nonsmoker, we should recognize that we didn't leave our best friend behind; we became free!! Nobody wants to be a slave, ergo we don't want to smoke for the rest of our life!
Marivi
My Milage:
My Quit Date: 1/23/2009 Smoke-Free Days: 55 Cigarettes Not Smoked: 825 Amount Saved: $82.50 Life Gained: Days: 6 Hrs: 6 Mins: 0 Seconds: 45
Still, wouldn't you agree that one critical component of a quit is not only to imagine oneself as a non-smoker, but indeed to affirm that from that last smoke extinghished, one is a non-smoker? Not just a former smoker or ex-smoker, but from the moment we quit, we must realize ourselves to be non-smokers?
A change in self-identity and self-awareness has been enormously helpful for me, and it was not a change that I "earned" over time; it was a change I effected when I FINALLY put the last one out. I renew and re-affirm that change every time I choose not to smoke.
Now if I could just get over my addiction to hyphens!
peteg
My Milage:
My Quit Date: 2/10/2009 Smoke-Free Days: 36 Cigarettes Not Smoked: 1,800 Amount Saved: $405.00 Life Gained: Days: 6 Hrs: 17 Mins: 37 Seconds: 51
Myth: Quitting smoking should be a short simple process.
Fact: The fact is, that smoking is a learned behaviour that takes a long time to unlearn. Allow yourself, both physically and emotionally, some time to recover from your quit and ease into your new lifestyle. This actual length of the quit process varies from one individual to the next but in most, if not all cases, it last much longer than initially anticipated.
